David Traub is a glass artist, originally from New York, who studied a BS in Art and Photography at East Texas State University, Commerce, Texas, and subsequently set up a studio in Edom, Texas, where he lived and worked for 12 years. In 1984 he moved to the UK, enrolled in the glass program at the Royal College of Art in London and then in a Master of Philosophy at Stourbridge College of Technology & Art. After working as senior lecturer in glass at the School of Design and Ceramics at Staffordshire University, David moved to New Zealand in 1995 to take on the role of Head of Glass Program and Senior Lecturer, Wanganui UCOL. In 2006 he resigned from this position to work fulltime as an artist, from his studio, The Glass Factory, which he shares with glass artist Victoria Rodgers and painter Lorraine Webb.

Jen Webb is Professor of Creative Practice at the University of Canberra. She has studied in South Africa, New Zealand, Canada and Australia and holds a PhD in cultural theory (art and society) and a DCA in writing (creativity and embodiment). Her academic interests focus on the relationship between the field of artistic production and the wider social domain, including how representations are made (in art, literature and news media) of human rights issues, conflict and crisis, and how individuals perceive themselves and their lived experience. Her current research includes two major projects—the first investigates the relationship between art and critical social moments; the other explores the relationship between creative practice and knowledge, focusing particularly on the role of poetry in generating thought and the possibility of ‘knowing’. Her books include Understanding representation, the short story collection Ways of getting by and the forthcoming Understanding Foucault: a critical introduction (coauthored with Tony Schirato and Geoff Danaher).